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On
occasions the Israelites needed to move the tabernacle. Therefore,
God had given the Israelites directions as to how to move it. The
descendants of Kohath, called Kohathites, were the only priests
who were allowed to move the tabernacle. But they were not allowed
to see or touch the holy objects. If anyone touched a holy object
or saw one he or she would die. Therefore,
the priests were to cover the holy objects so that the Kohatites
would not die during the move (Num. 4:19-20).
Just
Helping? From
Numbers 4:4-20, 2 Samuel 6:3-8, and 1 Chronicles 13:6-12 we discover
that two Kohathites, Uzzah and Ahio, drove the cart during the move.
The cart was pulled by oxen. The ark of God had been put on a cart.
This was a violation of God's command in Numbers 7:9 which directed
the Kohathites to carry the holy objects on their shoulders. Why
didn't God strike them dead when they placed the holy objects on
the cart and started the move? I believe that God showed them His
mercy and forgiveness at the start of the trip.
The oxen driven cart eventually came to the threshing
floor of Nacon, and apparently Uzzah and Ahio had trouble with the oxen. We are
not told exactly what happened. The oxen must have been causing the cart to sway
and tilt and when the cart came to the threshing floor, the ark of God almost
fell over. This would not have happened if the holy objects had been carried
on the Kohathites' shoulders. 2 Samuel 6:6 says that Uzzah did not just reach
out to stop the ark from falling. He responded by "taking hold of it." The
Hebrew word means that he grasped and apparently briefly held on to it. Why hold
on to it? Would God have taken his life if he had just quickly put out his hand
and pulled it back? Did he hold on to some uncovered part of it? We do not know.
but it is clear that this was a second violation.
Conclusion: God
had directed them to carry the holy things on their shoulders. They
did not. Putting them on a cart was a planned violation. No one died.
The second violation, while not planned, was also an intentional
violation, and God finally responded. They missed the fact that God
called these items holy. Both King David and the priests ignored
the fact that God had spoken. Were Uzzah and Ahio glad that God did
not kill them when they loaded the holy objects on the cart? Did
they think that God was not serious? When we ignore God's desires,
we are ignoring Him. He wants our love and submission. |
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